Editorials

October 10, 1999

Saving Langley

NASA Langley task force needs state money

Many are digging deep into their wallets to help save NASA Langley Research Center from proposed budget cuts. The commitments from municipalities, private donors and the Hampton Roads Partnership show a truly commendable regional effort to save an irreplaceable component of the local economy.

About $375,000 has been pledged or donated from a host of contributors, including $100,000 from the partnership and $110,000 each from the cities of Hampton and Newport News, said Whiting Chisman, co-chairman of the NASA Langley Community Support Team.

Gov. Gilmore's office is considering a financial grant. A decision could come within two weeks, said Joshua Lief, deputy secretary of commerce and trade.

Helping to protect the Langley brain trust with state money should be a no-brainer. As an economic development priority, saving Langley is the equivalent of 100 minor business openings of the sort the governor's office regularly celebrates in press releases. With nearly 3,900 employees and a $624 million payroll of high-quality jobs, the research center in Hampton is a local and state economic catalyst.

Part of the money is paying for alarm-style newspaper and television ads in the Washington area, where the task force hopes to get the attention of key congressional lawmakers. One print ad shows an Aloha Airlines jet with the roof peeled back. A flight attendant was sucked out of the plane and killed in that 1988 accident, and others on board were injured. Afterward, NASA Langley conducted research that helps detect metal fatigue and cracks on planes.

Sounding a similar theme, a TV ad ends with this ominous warning: "If Congress doesn't support NASA today, you won't want to fly tomorrow."

The warnings are serious, like the threat to aviation if NASA continues to shortchange aeronautics research in favor of the more glamorous space programs. And like Langley's place in the Hampton Roads economy.

So keep up the regional efforts. And Mr. Gilmore, please sign that check. Just think of those ads as an economic development mission to a foreign country - Congress.

Merchants Squared

Style and scale must rule in CW expansion

The Williamsburg area has become a shopper's paradise. What began as a roadside stand offering pottery seconds - The Williamsburg Pottery - has spawned a collection of retail spots as popular as the history that first brought visitors to the area. Unfortunately for the city's economy, most of those cash registers are ringing in James City County.

Efforts to boost retail in the city - first a Wal-Mart and more recently, a collection of upscale shops - have been unpopular in part because of the traffic they would have added to Richmond Road. But the city must compete for those shoppers' dollars and the sales tax that comes with them.

Now finally, a logical plan.

Expand the shopping in Merchants Square. That's where the visitors to Colonial Williamsburg are anyway. There's already a core of good shops there. That's where the city's commercial center fits naturally - where it gave up its small town heart some time ago.

CW and William and Mary say moving the student bookstore into the old Casey's Department Store building will cause students to cross the street and become part of life on Merchants Square.

Forcing them onto Duke of Gloucester Street to purchase their books and keeping them on Merchants Square are two different things, however. In recent years, the exclusive shops and eateries geared for visitors have been out of students' price range. If CW wants students to feel welcome, the shops will have to offer a larger variety of merchandise. That's something locals would like, too.

Expect an outcry against the parking decks at either side of the expanded shopping area.

While they seem out of character, though, there is little choice. The decks should stay low, but people aren't going to shop if parking is not convenient. Still, the buildout must preserve the residential feel of areas such as Scotland Street by hiding the parking decks in the center of the block, screened by other buildings.

If the city is to compete in the retail market and maintain its income from sales tax, it must consider helping to finance the parking decks, just as it would consider providing infrastructure for a new economic development.

Then, within the master plan for Merchants Square, priorities need to be set.

For example, the Goodwin Building that houses the foundation's administrative offices was always intended to be converted to shops. Do it first.

Conversely, one of the most attractive things about Merchants Square today is the grassy area along Boundary Street, which mirrors the openness of the Wren Yard and lush college gardens on the opposite corners. Put new shops there last - or better yet, not at all.

Yes, this enlarged Merchants Square can accommodate more shops, more students and more cars. But in Williamsburg, especially so close to the Historic Area, beauty, style and scale are crucial.

CW must identify and enforce just the right combination of modern shopping convenience and Williamsburg ambiance if this expansion is to succeed.

PLEASE JOIN US

As part of a continuing project to encourage public participation, the Editorial Board will meet in Hampton on Monday. Please join us from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Chesapeake Bagel Bakery, 2400 Cunningham Drive (near Coliseum Mall).

We want to hear what local issues you think we should be writing about, and why. You bring the fresh ideas. We'll buy the fresh coffee.